About the 1998 BCS

Following the 1998 college football regular season, the Bowl Championship Series will determine the National Championship.

The BCS will consist of the FedEx Orange, Nokia Sugar, Rose Bowl Presented by AT&T and Tostitos Fiesta bowls. The conferences with automatic berths include the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern Conferences.

ABC-TV will televise the four Bowl Championship Series games.

The Bowl Championship Series differs from the original Bowl Alliance in that, for the first time, it will guarantee a match-up between college football's top two teams in a true national championship game.

Any Division I-A independent team or champion of the Western Athletic Conference, Conference USA or any other Division I-A conference which is ranked sixth or higher in the BCS standings, will also be eligible for the Bowl Championship Series.

Otherwise, any Division I-A team can qualify for selection in the BCS if they meet one of the following requirements:

  1. has won at least 8 college football games during the most recently completed regular season; not to include wins in exempted games.
  2. is ranked among the Top 12 teams in the final BCS regular season ranking.
  3. is ranked no lower in the final BCS regular season ranking than the lowest ranked team selected by a BCS bowl from the conference champions.

At the conclusion of the 1998 regular season, the Fiesta Bowl will host the National Championship contest. The game will be played on Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. ET in Tempe, Ariz. The Fiesta Bowl shall select the top two teams ranked in the BCS final regular season standings.

The BCS will also mark the return of regional consideration regarding team selection. Specifically, as a member of the BCS, the Rose Bowl will host the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions in those years in which either the Rose Bowl does not have the national championship game or the Big Ten and Pac-10 champion is not ranked No. 1 or No. 2. Other "regional consideration" tie-ins include the SEC champion in the Sugar Bowl, the ACC or Big East champion in the Orange Bowl and the Big 12 champion in the Fiesta Bowl.

There will be several occasions when the regional consideration tie-ins will not be kept. Criteria for moving host teams to another bowl include: (1) whether the same team will be hosting the same BCS Bowl for two consecutive years; (2) whether two teams that played against one another in the most recently completed college football season will be for two consecutive years; (3) whether the same two teams will play against each other in a Bowl game for two consecutive years and (4) whether alternative pairings will have greater appeal to college football fans.

If a BCS bowl loses a host team to the National Championship Game, then such BCS bowl shall be the first to select a replacement team from the pool of participating teams. If two BCS bowls lose their host teams to the National Championship Game, the BCS bowl losing the highest ranked team would have the first at-large selection, followed by the BCS bowl that lost the second-ranked team. Bowls cannot select a "host" team from another BCS bowl.

Any BCS bowl game(s) still remaining unfilled following the dispersal of teams, should submit to the BCS a listing of its top three team selections to fill its at-large slot. Any conference champion not already placed in a bowl game must be listed among such bowl game's first two selections. Each BCS bowl would then be given its highest preference of teams.

In a situation where two or more bowls select the same team(s) with their choices, the priority of selection would be the following: (1) the bowl making the largest per team cash payment shall be given first preference; (2) the bowl not getting first priority in the previous year, would be given first preference.

At the conclusion of these procedures, the pairings established by the BCS bowls may be adjusted by the BCS, in consultation with the BCS bowls and ABC, in the interest of creating the most exciting and interesting post-season match-ups possible.

Other BCS games following the 1998 regular season include the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. ET, the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET and the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 at 5 p.m. ET.

AUTOMATIC ACCESS FOR INSTITUTIONS WITHOUT GUARANTEED ACCESS

  1. Should a team from a conference which does not have an automatic selection or an independent institution be ranked in the top six* such team shall be guaranteed selection in one of the games of the Bowl Championship Series. In this event, should Notre Dame have a top ten ranking* or a record of at least 9 wins**, Notre Dame shall be guaranteed selection in one of the games of the Bowl Championship Series.
  2. Should two teams from conferences which do not have an automatic selection or one or more independent institutions be ranked in the top six*, the bowls shall select these two top six* teams for the two at-large selections in the BCS. In this event, should Notre Dame have a top ten ranking* or a record of at least 9 wins**, the bowls shall select from among these two teams and Notre Dame for the two at-large selections.
  3. Should three or more teams from conferences which do not have an automatic selection or one or more independent institutions (any combination totaling three or more teams) be ranked in the top six*, the bowls shall select from among these three or more top six* teams for the two at-large selections in the BCS. In this event, should Notre Dame have a top ten ranking* or a record of last least 9 wins**, the bowls shall select from among these three or more top six* teams and Notre Dame for the two at-large selections.
  4. Any team from a conference with or without an automatic selection or any independent institution ranked number one or number two* will play in the championship game of the BCS. Should only one at-large selection be available as the result of an at-large team from a conference with an automatic selection, a team from a conference without an automatic selection or an independent being ranked number one or number two*, the following criteria for selection shall apply:

    A. Should a team from a conference which does not have an automatic selection or an independent be ranked in the top six* and Notre Dame also has a record of at least 9 wins** or is ranked in the top ten*, the bowls shall select one of these two teams.

    B. Should a team from a conference which does not have an automatic selection, an independent or an at-large team from a conference with an automatic selection be ranked number one or number two*, the bowls shall select the remaining at-large team from the pool of all eligible teams provided no other team from another conference without an automatic selection or an independent, including Notre Dame, is ranked in the top six*.

*The standings considered in the selection process shall be the Bowl Championship Series standings.

**Number of wins shall be determined without consideration of exempted games. If a team chooses to count a game played against a Division I-AA opponent, such game must be declared as a countable game to meet post-season requirements prior to the beginning of the season in which the game is played.

The rankings system will consist of four major components: Subjective polls of the writers and coaches, computer rankings, schedule strength and team record. The two teams which have the lowest point total in the four categories will play in the national championship game on ABC Sports.

The formula for the Bowl Championship Series standings follows:

John Saunders Explains(REAL Video)

POLLS:
The poll component will be calculated based on the average of the ranking of each team in the Associated Press media poll and the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll. The rankings of each team will be added and divided by two. For example, a team ranked number one in one poll and number two in the other poll would receive 1.5 points in this component (1+2=3 divided by 2=1.5).

COMPUTER RANKINGS:
The second component will consist of three computer rankings which are published in major media outlets. These computer rankings will include Jeff Sagarin, published in USA Today, the Seattle Times and the New York Times. An average of these rankings will be utilized to calculate the points in this component. In order to prevent unusual differences which might occur as the result of individual computer formulas, a maximum adjusted deviation of no greater than 50% of the average of the two lowest computer rankings will be utilized in the calculation. For example, if a team is ranked third and fifth in two of the computer systems and 12th in the third computer system, the highest ranking of 12 would be adjusted to six before calculating the average points for the computer component (3+5=8 divided by 2=4x50%=2+4=6). The average of these three rankings will be calculated for the points of this component (3+5+6=14 divided by 3=4.67).

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE:
The third component will be the team's strength of schedule. This component is calculated by determining the cumulative won/lost records of the team's opponents and the cumulative won/lost records of the team's opponents' opponents. The formula shall be weighted two-thirds (66-2/3%) for the opponent's record and one-third (33-1/3%) for the opponent's opponent's record. The team's schedule strength shall be calculated to determine in which quartile it will rank: 1-25, 26-50, 51-75, 76-100; and shall be further quantified by its rankings within each quartile (divided by 25). For example, if a team's schedule strength rating is 28th in the nation, that team would receive 1.12 points (28 divided by 25=1.2).

TEAM RECORD:
The final component shall evaluate the team's won/lost record. Each loss during the season will represent one point in this component.

All four components shall be added together for a total rating. The team with the lowest point total shall rank first in the Bowl Championship Series Standings. The BCS Standings will not be published until the second week of November each season. This system will be utilized only to select the teams that will participate in the championship game of the Bowl Championship Series and to determine any independent team or team from a conference without an automatic selection which shall qualify for a guaranteed selection in one of the games of the Bowl Championship Series as the result of being ranked in the top six in the BCS Standings.

Viewers can follow the Road to the Bowl Championship Series with ABC Sports.com and its new Bowl Championship Series Web site, launching this summer. Exclusive coverage and analysis from ABC Sports.com, with video highlights and columns from ABC Sports personalities, will be featured.